The End of the Affair?
The End of the Affair? is the 11th episode of 5th season and the 98th episode overall. How about we help each other? ''-Gossip Girl'' Summary Through a series of emotional flashbacks, Blair reveals to Serena what really happened in the aftermath of her tragic car accident with Chuck. Meanwhile, Nate discovers information about the accident that suggests possible foul play. Lily is worried by Charlie's long absence and decides to hire a private detective to track her down. Recap The episode begins with Chuck walking Monkey in the rain at night. He runs into Louis, who is walking alone without an umbrella. Chuck remarks that he wasn't aware Louis and Blair were home from Europe, and Louis replies that they've been back for three weeks. Chuck says that not being in the know of things like that is a downside of not having Gossip Girl the past few months since the accident. He also expresses his condolences on Blair losing the baby, and Louis explains that she is now spending all hours planning the wedding. Chuck offers to walk Louis home, as he can share his umbrella, and he accepts. In a flashback, Blair and Chuck arrive at the hospital on stretchers. Blair is awake and seemingly fine until she sees Chuck is bleeding heavily from the side of his head, and then him passing out. '' They arrive back at the Waldorf's, and Louis goes to get them some towels. While he's gone, Blair comes downstairs and notices Chuck. ''Upon seeing Blair, Chuck has a flashback to them kissing right before the accident. Blair says that she knew Chuck would find some way to get to her, and Chuck replies that he just wanted to be there for her after she lost her baby. She asks him to leave, citing her need to keep her priorities straight before her wedding. Chuck asks why she's cutting him out of her life without any explanation, and Blair says that there are no such things as accidents and it was the universe's way of showing them what was really important. She tells Chuck to inform Louis that Bergdorf's stayed open late for her to finish their registry and leaves. In another flashback, Blair tells Chuck that she can't wait to spend the rest of her life with him and they both say they love each other. '' Louis comes back into the room and gives Chuck a towel. He tells Louis what Blair said and that it's probably just an excuse to avoid him. Louis sadly says no, and that her going out this late is a regular habit. Chuck asks if that's why Louis was out in the rain and he says he just wants to know what she's doing. He then mentions that she isn't talking to Serena much and won't let Dorota go with her anywhere. Louis explains that he thought she was with Chuck and now that he knows she wasn't, he now wants to hire a private detective to find out what the truth is. Chuck says he has a better idea and goes to the loft to see Dan. He lies that he's there to make sure he hasn't fallen into a literary slump. Dan remarks that he's grateful his publisher gave him a contract for another book but can't come up with an idea for one. Chuck asks if he knew Blair was back in town, and Dan says no. Chuck explains Louis wanted to hire a private detective but that he thinks Dan would be a better option. Dan refuses, saying it's unlikely Blair is having an affair and even if she was, he doesn't want to spy on her. Chuck assumes it's because Dan might be trying to hide something and when he declines, Chuck says he'll be looking forward to a full report and leaves. Once he's gone, Blair emerges from a back room and says to Dan that Chuck can never know the truth before hugging him. The next day, Dan arrives at the Waldorf's and finds Serena in the dining room writing. She asks if he's coming to The Spectator's New Year's Eve party. Dan says that Nate has finally forgiven him for the Derek thing in ''Inside ''and he wouldn't miss a chance to support him. Serena asks him to help with the year end review list, and begins with the Biggest Transformation section. Dan suggests her, citing her becoming new blogger and all. Serena admits that with the disappearance with Gossip Girl, people are desperate for any form of gossip. Dan asks if Blair is there, and Serena says no, and that she wouldn't let her accompany her to Vera Wang for her dress fitting. Nate then arrives and apologizes to Dan about ''Inside ''not being on their best list. Dan says he's busy with a new book, and both Serena and Nate suggest he write something far off from selling out his friends. Serena and Nate then go off to meet the caterer for the party that evening and Dan goes on an errand. At the VDW's, Rufus gets a call from Jenny saying hi from London. Lily says it was nice having them home for Christmas, but a part of her wishes Charlie would have come too. Rufus says she made it clear the UES is not for her and that she was a wreck after the accident. Lily retorts that whenever she asks Carol, she always feels like she's not being let in on the whole truth. At Vera Wang, Dan finds Blair crying in her wedding dress. She confesses tearfully that she can't get married in the dress, despite it being beautiful and specially designed for her but now all she can see is everything she's lost. Vera herself then comes out and asks if everything is okay. Blair lies and says yes, but Dan says that she needs to get married in a different dress. Vera says she had a feeling and she had some other choices pulled from the back for Blair to see. When she's gone, she asks why Dan came. He says it can was until later, and as he says so, a woman watches them then goes outside and calls Chuck. She tells him Blair is at her fitting with a guy who is definitely now Louis. Chuck figures it's Dan. He instructs his driver to head to Vera Wang's shop. At The Spectator, Nate and Serena are making the Year's Best List. He notices lots of new emails constantly coming into Serena's inbox, and she explains that ever since Gossip Girl disappeared, everyone has been sending tips to her. He says there must be a thousand messages and she replies that she hoped if she ignored them long enough people would get the hint. Nate suggests she read them anyway. Elsewhere, Dan and Blair are walking after her fitting. She asks why he's being quiet and he reminds her she said he wasn't allowed to question her decision to marry Louis. Dan tells her that they need to reveal what they're hiding because Chuck and Louis are already becoming suspicious. Blair insists they still keep it hidden, as she doesn't know if she can live with the consequences if she doesn't. Dan offers her support and leads her into a private residence. Unbeknownst to both, Chuck is watching them from across the street. At The Spectator, Nate is still working on the Year's Best and Worst List. While working, he engages in a text conversation with an anonymous person. ''Unknown: I thought you were a journalist with integrity. Nate: I am. Who are you? Unknown: Not important. The important thing is the paparazzi didn't cause Blair and Chuck's accident. I did my research. Do yours. Outside the private residence, Chuck calls Dan for an update on Blair. Dan informs him that he doesn't think Blair is engaging in suspicious activity and the only person she's seeing covertly is Vera Wang. Chuck thanks him for the effort and says the mission need not be completed. They hang up and Dan reenters the building. While walking away from the building, Chuck calls Louis and says they need to talk. As he does so, he's almost hit by a taxi. At the Waldorf's, Serena comes home to find Louis waiting for Blair. She asks if he convinced her to come to the New Year's party that night but he says no, and that she has declined every invitation she's received since being home. Chuck then arrives and announces Blair is having an affair with Dan. Serena refutes it, saying Dan told her he hasn't seen Blair since she's been home. Chuck replies that he lied, just like he did when he said Blair only went to Vera's shop. Louis becomes annoyed that Chuck followed them yet thought his idea of a PI was not a good one. To pretend he didn't go, Chuck mentions that his driver took the pics he shows of Dan and Blair together. Louis agrees it explains her absences, but Serena says they need actual proof they're sleeping together before they confront her about it. Chuck suggests Gossip Girl probably has proof somewhere, but Serena says she isn't going to waste her time trying to find proof. She tells the two they're welcome to do so, but that Louis really needs to focus on getting Blair to come out and be with people who care about her. At the VDW's, Rufus answers the phone to find Andrew Tyler the PI on the other end, looking to talk to Lily. Andrew informs Rufus that his work is confidential and Rufus promises to tell Lily he called. At The Spectator, Nate is reviewing paparazzi pictures taken from the night of the accident. He mentions to his assistant that he isn't sure if they were close enough to run Chuck and Blair's car into the wall. She asks what the police said, and he answers that the front of the car was too damaged to inspect. He says he wants to talk to the driver himself and suggests they invite him to the party. Back at the VDW's, Lily is excited for New Year's karaoke. Rufus informs her that Andrew Tyler called about an assignment. Lily explains that she hired him to find Charlie and make sure she was okay. She calls him back and discovers that she never left New York after all. Outside, Dan and Blair leave the private residence. She's on the phone with Louis, again declining his offer to attend The Spectator party. When they hang up, Dan convinces her to go by saying she's going to have to eventually get out and he's sure she can fake being happy. Blair grudgingly agrees and accepts Louis' offer. Meanwhile at the Waldorf's, Chuck has found several photos in Serena's email of Dan and Blair together. Louis and Chuck debate how to handle confronting Blair and decide to do it at the party, where both Dan and Blair will be. At the party, Nate suggests Dan write his resolution down and hang it on their tree of resolutions they have set up. Louis and Blair arrive, but Blair immediately heads to the restroom to freshen up. Elsewhere, Chuck shows Serena the proof of Dan and Blair sneaking around. Louis then approaches and says he saw Dan run the other way when Blair arrived. Serena insists that while the photos look bad, it's still not proof they're doing anything other than talking. Chuck says that her having an affair with Dan explains why Blair cut him off and isn't confiding in Serena. Frustrated, Serena heads off to ask Blair the truth. When she's gone, Louis tells Chuck that if Serena alerts Blair, she can make sure Dan never says what's going on. Chuck agrees and Louis has the idea that they won't be able to lie about it in front of everyone. He goes to Nate's office and adds a new slide, Most Secret Affair, to the slideshow. Nate's assistant enters and asks Louis what he's doing. He lies that Nate let him use his computer to deal with some business and leaves. In the restroom, Serena finds Blair applying powder. She asks Blair to tell her the truth about why she's been avoiding her. In a flashback, Blair remembers when she woke up in the hospital to Serena telling her she lost the baby. She asks where Chuck is, and Serena is vague, explaining that he lost a lot of blood and he never woke up, so it's not looking good for him. It's then shown that Chuck's body rejected his blood transfusion and is ultimately dying and needs another. Elsewhere, Blair prays that Chuck won't die. She makes a promise to God that if He lets Chuck live, she'll keep her vow to marry Louis. After she's done, a nurse comes looking for her to say that Chuck is awake and asking for her. She goes to his room and tells him that just because they can't be together doesn't mean she won't love him. After Blair finishes, Serena reminds her that the nurse wasn't an angel and Chuck survived due to modern medicine. Serena also says God would understand if Blair changed her mind. Blair answers that she's tried. A flashback to earlier in the day is shown. It's revealed Blair has been attending church every day and Dan goes with for support. She sees Father Smythe, and thanks him for letting him have a key so she can escape at any hour to find peace. While they talk, Dan receives a call from Chuck and goes outside to take it. While he's gone, Blair tells that she saw Chuck the night before and that she still loves him, and it's not fair that he's alive but she feels dead without him. She asks Father Smythe if God would understand if she changed her mind, and he leaves her alone to speak with Him. She goes to the window and witnesses Chuck almost being hit by the taxi. '' Blair insists that she has to keep her promise because if anything ever happened to Chuck she would feel as if it's her fault. Serena says God doesn't want her to marry someone she doesn't love, and that Chuck and Louis think she's having an affair with Dan and they'll out it unless she comes clean. Blair refuses, saying she'll do anything to keep Chuck safe even if it means pretending she had an affair with Dan. In another room, Nate brings Dan, Louis, and Chuck together after finding out about the added slide. Dan sees it and says that while he wishes he could say what he's doing with Blair, he can't. Chuck suggests they run the slide anyway but Dan refuses. Chuck demands to know what they're doing and before he can answer, Serena bursts in and announces she's back together with Dan. She says Blair has helping them cover up because they wanted to be sure it would work before they told anyone. Dan agrees and plays along. Chuck leaves the room, and Nate tells Dan he needs serious remedial honest training. Louis goes off to find Blair. Serena tells Dan she knows about Blair's deal and the least thing she can do is help Blair live with her promise. They go off to get drinks. At Juilliard, Rufus tracks down Lily. He explains that singing karaoke by himself got boring and so he called Andrew Tyler, who wouldn't reveal where Charlie was. So he hired him to track down Lily, which is when he finally admitted Charlie is enrolled at Juilliard. Lily says she just wants to know she's okay, and they decide to ask the security guard about her. Before they can, Lily spots a blonde girl and calls out to her. She turns around and Lily realizes she isn't Charlie. She apologizes and says she was looking for Charlotte Rhodes, but the girl says that's who she is but people call her Lola. Rufus explains they were looking for a different Charlotte Rhodes and Lily realizes there might have been two of them. They leave to go home. Back at the party, Louis finds Blair in the restroom. He apologizes for not trusting her, and that he thought she was having an affair with Dan but Serena told him Blair was just helping cover their relationship. Louis admits he feels she's further away than ever, and Blair confesses that her real secret is that she's converting to Catholicism so they can be married in the church. They leave to go celebrate with everyone else. Elsewhere at the party, Nate's assistant introduces him to Greg, the man who drove the car during the accident. Greg says he told the cops all he knows, which was that the photographers were very close to the car but the real problem was that his breaks felt like they had no pressure, but that he checked them before his shift started. Meanwhile, Dan apologizes to Chuck about not telling him about his relationship with Serena sooner. Chuck says that while their relationship explains the sneaking around, it doesn't explain why Blair cut him out of her life. Dan swears he doesn't know, but Chuck doesn't believe him. Blair thanks Serena for keeping her secret, and Serena replies that she's willing to make the sacrifice but she doesn't think Blair is making the right choice. Louis then shows up and encourages Serena to find Dan before midnight. The clock strikes midnight, and both Dan and Chuck longingly watch Blair and Louis kiss. After the party, Nate explains to his assistant that the car service is sending an invoice from that night over to the office. He continues that Blair ordered the car and now they just need to narrow down who knew she would be in it. Serena then comes in and tells Nate he was right about Gossip Girl, and she plans to go through all the emails and see if there's a positive way for her to use them. At the VDW's, Rufus and Lily arrive home. Rufus says Lily really did all she could for Charlie, and Lily decides to let Carol deal with her daughter herself. They get ready to do New Year's karaoke together. At The Empire, Blair goes to see Chuck. He asks what's going on, and she says she came to tell him what a wonderful person he's become. He declares he plans to do anything he can to find out why Blair cut him out, and she just says that even though they can't be together doesn't mean she won't love him and leaves. ''In the last flashback, Chuck remembers Blair saying that in the hospital then walking out of his room. At the Waldorf's, Dan and Serene arrive and decide to hang out and raid Dorota's candy stash. Outside, Blair and Louis walk and Blair thanks him for letting them stop by The Empire. They stop for a second outside the church and Louis asks if she's getting cold feet. Blair replies that she's never been more sure of any decision in her life. Back at Juilliard, the other Charlotte Rhodes is shown looking for her ID. When she finds it, viewers see a picture of her and Carol, revealing she's the real Charlie Rhodes. At The Spectator, the car service invoice comes through. Nate reads it and realizes Blair got in the wrong car and the one that crashed was ordered for him. He texts the anonymous person and asks for help. He gets a reply, which is read aloud in Gossip Girl's voice, that they should help each other. Starring Main Cast * Blake Lively as Serena van der Woodsen * Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf * Penn Badgley as Dan Humphrey * Chace Crawford as Nate Archibald * Ed Westwick as Chuck Bass * Kaylee DeFer as Charlie Rhodes/Ivy Dickens (Credit only, as she does not appear in the episode) * Kelly Rutherford as Lily van der Woodsen * Matthew Settle as Rufus Humphrey Recurring/Guest Cast * Hugo Becker as Louis Grimaldi * Ella Rae Peck as Charlie Rhodes/Lola Rhodes Soundtrack * Break The Spell by All Mankind * Coming Down by Dum Dum Girls * Concrete Wall by Zee Avi * Outro by M83 * Wicked Game by James Vincent McMorrow * Willing and Able by Helene Smith * All Up In The Air by My Gold Mask Memorable Quotes 'Louis: '''Shouldn't you be at some scandalous party the night before New Year's Eve? '''Chuck: '''I haven't really been in the party mood. '''Louis: '''Well, at least you've fully recovered from the accident. '''Chuck: '''Physically. __________________________________ '''Chuck (to Blair): '''We were your priority. __________________________________ '''Blair: '''Do you know how many months of work went into the beading? A bride can't just change her mind weeks before the wedding. '''Dan: '''Yes, she can... and she can also change her mind about marrying Louis. '''Blair: '''Nice try. __________________________________ '''Chuck (describing Dan): '''Let me guess. Dark curly hair with the pale visage of someone who doesn't get out much? __________________________________ '''Blair (on her secret to Dan): '''The only ones who know are me, you, and God, and God doesn't blab. __________________________________ '''Chuck (to Serena): '''Blair is having an affair... with your ex. I'm referring to Dan, not the myriad of men since. __________________________________ '''Dan: '''You are the most accomplished liar I know, except maybe Jenny, but you trained her. '''Blair: '''This is different! '''Dan: '''Maybe, but Blair, what is a lifetime of blackmailing authority figures and casting out townies if it doesn't add up to the ability to at least feign a marginal level of happiness at an office party? You know, you banished Georgina to Belarus, I'm sure you can down a few canapés and watch the ball drop on Nate's big screen. __________________________________ '''Blair (in the flashback): '''Please, God. You have my baby. You can't take Chuck too. If you exist, let him live. I'll do anything. I promise I'll keep my vow to marry Louis and never be with him again. __________________________________ '''Serena (on Blair's promise and Chuck living): '''That wasn't a miracle. That was modern medicine. __________________________________ '''Blair: '''If it keeps Chuck safe, I'll endure the public humiliation of allegedly shtupping Humphrey. I'll lose everything before I lose Chuck all over again. __________________________________ '''Louis (to Blair): '''After the accident, you told me you'd never leave me. Now you feel further away than ever. __________________________________ '''Serena: '''It's not the secrets that cause the problems, it's the assumptions people make about them. __________________________________ '''Blair: '''I just came to tell you what a wonderful person you've become. And I hope you won't let this change that. '''Chuck: '''Well don't leave me. '''Blair: '''I'm not doing it to hurt you. '''Chuck: '''You sat in the car and you said you'd never go. We were going to spend the rest of our lives together and now you can't even look at me. Now you.. don't even care enough to tell me why? '''Blair: '''I saw what was important and I made the only choice I could. '''Chuck: '''If it's not an affair with Humphrey, something else changed you, what was it? Cause love does not just disappear. '''Blair: '''We can never be together. Please, Chuck, just move on and be happy. '''Chuck: '''I can't. Until I know why, I won't stop. I will use all the power I have to find out the truth. '''Blair: '''Some things are more powerful than even you. I'm sorry. Don't let this destroy all the good in you. Just because we can't be together doesn't mean I won't love you. __________________________________ Trivia *The episode title is based off the movie ''The End of the Affair. *This is the second episode of the show in which the main storyline is told through flashbacks. The first one was in Woman on the Verge. In that episode, the storyline was told by Serena, while this episode is told through Blair's perspective. *This is the first non-premiere episode of the series in which Gossip Girl doesn't do the opening narration. It's also the second episode of the series in which she is briefly heard, with the first being Blair Waldorf Must Pie, and also the second one in which she helps a character (in this case, Nate), to find out the truth about something or someone. She previously helped Blair and Dan in finding Juliet in The Townie. *This episode marks the first appearance of Ella Rae Peck as the real Charlotte Rhodes , as seen in the final minutes of the episode. *Kaylee DeFer (Ivy Dickens) is absent in this episode. *A mistake was made in which Blair's hair moves in front of her shoulders between shots when she is telling Chuck the car crash was "fate" Video Gallery Cw-tsr-gossipgirl-epphoto-511 105893-332bf4-253x338.jpg GO511A 0197r120103093118.jpeg Gossip-Girl-5x11-The-End-of-the-Affairs-HD-Screencaps-serena-van-der-woodsen-29239844-1280-720.jpg Media Category:season 5 Category:Episodes Category:Season 5 Episodes